We Are England S2022E76 - Farming England Our Cheese Farm

For decades, Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk was a traditional dairy farm. But in 2012, the price of milk dropped across the dairy farming sector, and many farms in England were plunged into crisis. Third-generation farmer Jonny decided to make a drastic change and bolster his business by diversifying into cheesemaking - using raw milk, straight from his cows, to create a French style cheese.

Jonny says he 'didn't have the foggiest' about making cheese – so he enlisted the help of a French cheese expert and travelled to France to buy 72 Montbéliarde cows, a breed highly prized for their milk in cheesemaking.

In the first week of production, 20 wheels of cheese were sold. A decade later, Jonny's team dispatches 150 tonnes of cheese around the world every year – and demand is still growing. But such rapid growth brings challenges. In this film, we meet Jonny, his wife Dulcie and the rest of the team on the farm, responsible for everything from herding and milking the cows to making and wrapping the cheese. They are determined to stick to their principles while managing a growing business, but it's not easy.